I know this subject has been discussed before but with modern technology advancing all the time I was wondering if any of you have views on the latest and best solar lights for gardens.Our community has a communal pool and gardens with approx 30 mixed type lights.The electrical installation is 30 years old and needs complete overhaul.Rather that dig up many metres of underground wiring our electrician has suggested solar lights as a viable option.All the ones we have seen so far look to be of a lightweight domestic variety with limited working life.Do you know of any more industrial spec models?Many thanks

Many thanks for your replies.We purchased 6 different lights through Amazon as trials.They all work ok and do seem to last till dawn but they are all very lightweight and don't look like they will last very long.We are looking for sturdy units with an anticipated lifetime in excess of 5 years,We understand that some regular maintenance and battery replacement will be required.We are now going to approach some of the larger electrical and lighting distributors here in Spain and in UK.There must be a demand for such items in some industrial applications.We will also consider just sourcing suitable well made small solar panels and fitting them to regular garden lights converted with suitable LED bulbs.I'll update when we know more.Further advice would be welcomed,

I bought these solar security lights from Amazon and found them to be very good.You can set them to come on at dusk and stay on all night.They are very bright, having 28 leds each and very reasonable priced.Bought 8 of them nearly a year ago and all still working.This is the Amazon link:-

Those last look a cut above the frail little ones* that have been around for some time, many of which just use one or two AA-sized NiMH batteries, and a tiny solar cell.Those above use a 3.2v lithium battery, which will be better.

There has been a recent breakthrough in battery chemistry, the result being the LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) battery. So good, its now used in Tesla cars and BYD single- and double-decer buses. Also now becoming available for small consumer devices, with its 3.2v ideally matched to running LEDs.Lots of further info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery.

* The cheap little ones suffer from battery degradation; the cheap solar panel gets damaged (cloudy) by sunlight UV; water ingress corrodes battery contacts, etc. Max. working life often just a year or so.

Would you want individual lights with a small panel on each one, or one main panel with a battery back up etc, wired to 'normal' lights with 12v bulbs?

Ive got the second in our rental - the panel is on the shed roof, the timer and all the other gubbins is in the shed. About 30 lights running every night around the garden. I think the whole cost was under 300 euro.